Introduction

Trillion Credit Squadron is an adventure pack for Traveller the classic science fiction role-playing game. The book contains campaign rules for large scale space wars, and an example scenario: The Islands Clusters Campaign.

It all began in the Summer of 1989... Alex decided to run the Islands Clusters Campaign by mail, as a way of keeping in touch with his friends during the summer vacation. He recruited players and posted out an initial news-sheet. Little did he realise that TCS would become a major part of his life for the next two-and-a-half years. In fact it took nearly a year for all of the players to create their worlds and design their fleets.

Once the game had begun, it took on a life of its own. The outstanding creativity of the players bred a rich universe, brim full of horror and humour in equal measure. For over a year, the colourful characters who ruled the Clusters' were locked in a Machiavellian struggle. A war characterised by megalomania and treachery, and punctuated by episodes of appalling violence.

We were consumed by a fascination with this terrible universe we had created. Although the game was played by mail, it dominated conversation whenever we met in real life. Players would talk long into the night about their hopes and plans - forming alliances and plotting against each other. Our enthusiasm was so infectious, that Alex had to allow new players to take part as minor characters. The whole thing drove our poor girlfriends to distraction - half seriously, they threatened to form the 'TCS widows club'!

This web-site charts the history of the Islands Clusters campaign, as we played it. Feel free to explore and enjoy this rich (and sometimes perverse) universe. Relive with us our fantastic journey.

Here's a brief guide:

About the Worlds

This growing section provides background information about the Clusters' worlds. There is basic data about every planet. For some worlds you'll find maps and even essays on the people and culture.

News and Messages

Weekly news is at the core of TCS. This section charts events as they unfold. It is important to remember that news takes a significant time to travel from world to world. So you must view the News section from the perspective of only one world at a time. Events on other worlds arrive after a delay of weeks or even months. This uncertainty about exactly what's going on beyond your own world was a crucial feature of the TCS game.

History

Some of the Clusters' worlds were colonised over a thousand years before the "present day". Most of that time was spent isolated in a vast lonely universe. Decades of slower-than-light travel separated even the closest of neighbours. How did these scattered communities grow from tiny struggling colonies on alien worlds, to rich and powerful societies mostly governed by deranged autocrats?